This chapter studies the three most prominent terrorist groups operating in Northern Ireland from the 1960s through 2003: the Provisional IRA, the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), and the Ulster ...
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This chapter studies the three most prominent terrorist groups operating in Northern Ireland from the 1960s through 2003: the Provisional IRA, the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Because the history of terrorism in Northern Ireland is so well known, the case provides an excellent venue for testing hypotheses about the relationship between discrimination and control. The history of the groups fighting in Northern Ireland also provides a critical illustration of the policy importance of this kind of organizational analysis. From 1987 on, leaders on both sides of the Northern Ireland conflict understood the broad contours of a negotiated settlement, but it took them many years to work the internal politics of their organizations to the point at which ceasefire orders were obeyed.Less

Discrimination and Control in Ireland

Jacob N. Shapiro

Published in print: 2013-08-04

This chapter studies the three most prominent terrorist groups operating in Northern Ireland from the 1960s through 2003: the Provisional IRA, the Ulster Defense Association (UDA), and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Because the history of terrorism in Northern Ireland is so well known, the case provides an excellent venue for testing hypotheses about the relationship between discrimination and control. The history of the groups fighting in Northern Ireland also provides a critical illustration of the policy importance of this kind of organizational analysis. From 1987 on, leaders on both sides of the Northern Ireland conflict understood the broad contours of a negotiated settlement, but it took them many years to work the internal politics of their organizations to the point at which ceasefire orders were obeyed.

This chapter analyses British security policy in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1974. It illustrates the changing nature of the threat which republican paramilitaries posed to the security forces. ...
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This chapter analyses British security policy in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1974. It illustrates the changing nature of the threat which republican paramilitaries posed to the security forces. Following ‘Operation Motorman’, which re-re-established a security force presence in some urban areas of Belfast and Derry, Provisional IRA attacks declined in urban centres, but there was a sharp rise in cross-border attacks on rural security installations. Cross-border security co-operation was thus vital to improving the chances of success for any political settlement. The chapter demonstrates that the replacement of the outgoing Fianna Fáil government by a Fine Gael/Labour coalition in the Republic of Ireland in 1973 resulted in a significant improvement in cross-border security and intelligence co-operation. In Northern Ireland, the unionist leader, Brian Faulkner, overestimated the importance of security reforms to the nationalist SDLP. The latter's central focus was on achieving a strong Council of Ireland.Less

The security problem

Shaun McDaid

Published in print: 2013-03-14

This chapter analyses British security policy in Northern Ireland between 1972 and 1974. It illustrates the changing nature of the threat which republican paramilitaries posed to the security forces. Following ‘Operation Motorman’, which re-re-established a security force presence in some urban areas of Belfast and Derry, Provisional IRA attacks declined in urban centres, but there was a sharp rise in cross-border attacks on rural security installations. Cross-border security co-operation was thus vital to improving the chances of success for any political settlement. The chapter demonstrates that the replacement of the outgoing Fianna Fáil government by a Fine Gael/Labour coalition in the Republic of Ireland in 1973 resulted in a significant improvement in cross-border security and intelligence co-operation. In Northern Ireland, the unionist leader, Brian Faulkner, overestimated the importance of security reforms to the nationalist SDLP. The latter's central focus was on achieving a strong Council of Ireland.